Hold On
by Hello Witty
Summary: Silence. I didn’t know what I was to do anymore. Would anyone find me? Or would they just give up and stop looking for me? I was losing hope, and then he came. One-shot.


**Hold On  
**

**Author's Note**: I don't own any of the characters in the 'Darkest Powers' series. If I did, this wouldn't be a fan fiction. It's just my current favorite book. I was listening to the song 'My Hands' by David Archuleta while I was listening to this, hence the title. Heh. I also used the book as a reference for what the ghost was to say. Again, that's credited to Kelley Armstrong.

**Summary**: This story takes place around the chapter when Tori trapped Chloe in the crawl space.

Silence. I didn't know what I was to do anymore. Would anyone find me? Or would they just give up and stop looking for me? I was losing hope, and then he came. One-shot.

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I opened my eyes to the inky blackness of from what I remember, was the crawl space me and Rae found behind the door of the locked room in the laundry room. But what was I doing here? I tried getting up, but much to my dismay, my hands were tied to the pillar behind me. I tried remembering. God help me. The stench of the dead mole was really strong; and I was this close to vomiting. But first things first, what was I doing here? Tori. Yes, Tori. She told me she had answers. Answers as to why that ghost wanted to talk to me. Then she just waited for me to go near this pillar, yes, this one that I'm tied to now, got some random broken brick from the ground, and hurled it at me. Then, I find myself finally awaking from my state of unconsciousness, but tied to this stupid pillar.

I forced myself to stay still, to try to relax, to calm down. No such luck though, my body acted on impulse. I tried to scream, I knew there was someone who was bound to hear me. Then I realized. There was something on plastered tight across my cheeks, pulling the skin when I tried to move. Tape. I had tape over my mouth. I tried moving my feet. I moved my right foot first, and when my left foot followed along with the right, I knew something was wrong. Tied. If I could see Tori right now, I'd tell her six words. 'You are an insane bitch, Tori.'

It was dead silent, and at this point, I was scared. Well, even 'scared' didn't seem like the appropriate word for it. It wasn't that I was just scared, I was absolutely horrified. I had no idea what I was to do anymore. Would anyone find me? Or would they just give up, stop looking for me and go back to their lives? I was losing hope. I mean, how long would it take for one of them to think of the crawl space? I mean, only Rae and I knew about this crawl space, or well, that's what I thought until Tori led me here and hit me with that broken brick. Not only that she knocked me unconscious, she had to gag me and bound me to this damned pillar. Now, I was stuck here, sitting in this cold, dark, and damp crawl space, waiting for someone to find me.

_Will she? She's crazy, remember. All she cares about is getting rid of you. Maybe she'll decide it's better if you're never found. A few days without water…_

Stop that.

_They'll think someone broke in. Tied up poor Chloe up and left her in the crawl space. That would make a good story. Chloe's last story._

Ridiculous. They'll find me… eventually.

I tried getting up, hopefully getting to the other end of the crawl space, and from there, try to bang on the door, try to get someone's attention. It would be a long-shot, but it was worth trying.

"Chloe?"

It was a man's voice. Could it be Dr. Davidoff? The only answer I could make at the moment was a muffled "Uh-uh" sound because of the tape plastered over my mouth. Great. Just great.

"… your name… Chloe…"

The voice drew nearer, and I recognized it. The basement ghost. God. Not now. Please. Not now.

"… relax… come for you…"

What? It's a ghost. They can't 'come for you'. They can't hurt you. They can't do anything, let alone 'come for you'. The idea was simply ridiculous.

"… summon them… you must…"

I tried concentrating on breathing. That was more important. It made more sense. Breathing. Blocking that voice.

"… help you… listen… this house…"

I was scared. That was something I was sure of. But the second I heard, 'this house', and how urgent it seemed, I knew I just had to listen.

"… good… relax… concentrate…"

I struggled against the ropes that bound me to this pillar, trying to push myself up. Victory, I guess. I managed to do it.

"No, relax… come for you… use the time… make contact… I can't… must get… their story… urgent…"

I tried to pick up more, struggling to understand what this ghost was saying. Relax and concentrate? Fat chance that'd work. That did sound like what Rae had suggested. It had worked when I was with her, well, long enough for me to see one flash. It didn't seem worth the trouble, but I did it anyway. I closed my eyes shut and imagined myself making contact with whatever it was that was here in the crawl space. Pictured them. Visualized pulling them through, and I kept it up until my temples began to throb.

"… child, not so…"

His voice. It got noticeably louder. I struggled, balled up my hands, forcing myself to pass through the barrier, to contact the dead…

"No!" the ghost said. "don't—!"

My head shot up, my once tightly shut eyes now open to the blackness.

_Are… you there?_ I said the words in my head, and tried giving off those muffled sounds again through the gag. Hah, so much for making contact and bringing back the dead. I must have shoved them further from reach. The quiet time gave me the time to at least calm down and relax, at long last. So now, the darkness wasn't so scary anymore. I straightened; the bindings that tied me to this pillar were finally loosening. Finally, after twisting my arms, the bindings came off. It was Tori we were talking about, so this had to be a poorly done knot. As soon as my hands were free, I reached for my legs. Finally.

"Took you long enough." Another male voice. Strangely familiar. I looked up, his build was strangely familiar. Derek was there, a flashlight in his hands, smiling smugly.

"What are you doing here?" I gasped, dumbfounded. How did he know where to find me? When did he get here? How'd he get in here without me noticing? The questions raged inside my head when he smirked and made this 'hm' sound.

"Saving you, of course." He said, his smug smile apparently wasn't going to disappear. "What other reason would I be here for?" He asked, as if he did this everyday. I grunted. Egotistic bastard. I swear, if only your profile didn't warn me against it, I'd kick your ass right about now.

"Well?" He said, "are you not gonna get up yet?"

I made an 'urgh' sound, and rolled my eyes. "Does this mean I owe you something?" a rustle. I turned my head. "What was that?" I asked, afraid again. "Whatever it was," Derek said, "I'm sure it wasn't me." I was terrified now. What if there was something else down here?

"Stop screwing with me, Derek." I said urgently.

"I swear to God, Chloe. It's not me." He said seriously. This time, I had to believe him. Then something touched me. Long. Cold. Fingerlike. Derek was on the other side. It was coming from my back, so it couldn't be him. I wanted to run. I had to run. I tried to, but only managed to bump into Derek. "Chloe!" he said, but I wouldn't stop. "Chloe! Stop." He looked around.

"You summoned them back?" He exclaimed, the shock in his voice was quite evident. "It's OK, they won't hurt you." He said, calmly this time.

"I need to send them back?"

"Who else will?"

"… how?" Great. The most awkward question of the moment. I got them here, but hey, I didn't know how to send them back. Nice one, Chloe.

Silence. I looked up to see Derek's confused face. He rolled his eyes. "I have no idea." He said, and shook it off. "Just… try to reverse what you did."

"… Go back." I said, and tried to picture myself pushing them back to where they once came. No such luck. The rustling only came closer. "H-h-help?" I said, looking at Derek.

"It's ok." He said. "I'm here. Don't worry."

I visualized again. I tried hard this time. Once again, I tried picturing myself pushing them back to where they came from. I closed my eyes. Struggled. My head began to throb. I opened my eyes, and finally, the rustling stopped.

"I did it?" I said, my voice shaky.

"I guess you did." Derek said, and suddenly, I felt two arms grab my waist and a pair of lips brush against my hair. "congratulations." I blushed. Wait. Did that just happen?

I looked up at him, looking for answers. "What was that for?" I said, slightly disgusted. But I can't deny that these past few days, I've developed a small crush on Derek Souza. I'd be a hypocrite if I couldn't admit that to myself.

"Nothing," he said, his smile was crooked. He was kidding about 'nothing'. God. "I guess, I'd like to be honest with myself from now on." He said. I didn't really get what he meant, so I got on the ladder, and when we got out of the crawl space and dusted ourselves off, and got into the laundry room. "Good job, in there." He said, this time, it sounded genuine.

I couldn't help smiling. Derek quickly grabbed a laundry basket when Ms. Talbot suddenly popped in. "Heavens, what are you doing here, the both of you?" she said, looking at me and Derek.

"I was dropping by to give Chloe my laundry, but when I saw that she was finishing up, I decided to help her with these and just do my own laundry later." He said, the lie was pretty much flawless, even Talbot looked convinced.

"Very well." She said, looking at Derek. "This is a good improvement, Souza." With that, she went and left. Derek quickly dropped the basket and smirked, and then I heard him mutter the word, 'sucker'. "So yeah." He started. "I'm off."

My legs started to feel shaky. I ignored it, and just went to carry the laundry basket Derek set aside. I rolled my eyes, and started walking to the door.

"Hey watch out!" Derek exclaimed, his eyes on me. Shit. I had lost my balance. As I braced myself for the fall, I was surprised that I didn't fall as soon as I expected, and just felt one strong arm around my waist. The laundry was everywhere, and I was really, really startled. I saw Derek's smirk over me. He rolled his eyes in an amused manner, and leaned closer. I felt his soft lips touch mine for just a short moment, then he pulled back and laughed.

"Sorry." He said, straightened me up, looked me in the eye and turned around.

I started to pick up the clothes on the floor, even though I was still surprised, I mean, c'mon, my first kiss was in a laundry room and with Derek Souza? God. This must be some sick dream. Though I have to admit, it was a good first… but…

"Hey Chloe." He called from the door.

I rolled my eyes. I had no idea whether I was supposed to be disgusted or not.

"Yeah?" I called back, not knowing how to feel still.

"I love you." He said, and closed the door.

I smiled. "I love you too, Derek." I said quietly while picking up the clothes that were still on the floor.

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**Author's Note**: OK that sucked. Please read and review though. :3


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